Midland High's Allison Stewart competes in the District 3-6A tennis match against Abilene High on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2015 at the Midland High Tennis Center. James Durbin/Reporter-Telegram

Midland High's Allison Stewart competes in the District 3-6A tennis match against Abilene High on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2015 at the Midland High Tennis Center. James Durbin/Reporter-Telegram

Photo: James Durbin

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Midland High's Kate Daugherty competes in the District 3-6A tennis match against Abilene High on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2015 at the Midland High Tennis Center. James Durbin/Reporter-Telegram

Midland High's Kate Daugherty competes in the District 3-6A tennis match against Abilene High on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2015 at the Midland High Tennis Center. James Durbin/Reporter-Telegram

Photo: James Durbin

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HS TENNIS: MHS has surprising rout of Abilene in 3-6A opener

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Midland High was expecting a competitive, hard fought match from rival Abilene High in both team’s District 3-6A team tennis opener at the MHS Tennis Center on Saturday.

Even the most optimistic Bulldogs players and coaches had to be a little stunned by what transpired.

Midland High (10-2, 1-0 District 3-6A) opened district play with a bang by pulling off a convincing 16-3 victory over the visiting Eagles (0-1 District 3-6A).

Abilene High, the 2014 District 3-6A runner up, defeated the Bulldogs 11-8 in last year’s match so it was quite the turnaround.

“I’m surprised by the score,” MHS head coach Alan Biel said. “I’m not surprised by how well our kids played and I am not surprised that we did win a lot of matches. I think we have a group of kids towards this for many, many years.”

The Lady Bulldogs led the way as Kate Daugherty, Allison Stewart, Hannah Rey, Anna Parkison, Sofia Salcedo and Ellie Hord each won their singles matches in two sets.

The MHS girls were a perfect 10-0 as they won all three doubles matches and Midland High junior Foster Ellis paired with Jack Wall to win a three-set match in mixed doubles.

“It was a surprise,” said Rey, one of MHS’ five seniors. “I think we all prepared for it though, so it was anticipated as well. It wasn’t a for sure thing how good we would do, but we are so motivated that we were like, ‘all right if we put forth this much effort, I think that we will win this.’”

While the boys weren’t as successful as the girls in terms of wins, Biel believed his seniors Hayden Boldrick and Brandt Schneider, during a losing effort in doubles, left a indelible impression on his younger boys.

In an early match, Schneider and Boldrick took Abilene High’s James Watson and Jon Woodard to a drawn out third set after the MHS pair lost the first set. Biel thought their match set the tone for what would be a triumphant day for MHS tennis.

Later in the day in boys singles, MHS junior Jad Rogers and freshman Nick Martinez each registered three-set wins that went to a deciding 10-point tiebreaker.

“It really motivates me and inspires me to be better,” said Rogers of Boldrick and Schneider’s performance in doubles.

The euphoria of Midland High’s win will be short lived as the team visits San Angelo Central, the defending District 3-6A team tennis champion, on Friday.

“This match doesn’t guarantee anything for Friday’s match against Central,” Biel said. “I will do whatever I can do that they stay grounded.”